Girls Rock!Movie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 62 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
8 OK for kids 8+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman

    A must-see both for girls and the grownups who love them. Read full review

  • 75
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    How are girls supposed to behave in a culture that tells them they're Disney princesses for the first 12 years and sex toys after that? Girls Rock! has one answer: Strap on a Fender and rage against the machine. Read full review

  • 70
    The New York Times | Jeannette Catsoulis

    A jubilant documentary about a place where power chords and empowerment go hand in hand. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    We may not get to their innermost feelings, which would have taken this documentary to a deeper, maybe darker level, but the movie's purpose is celebratory. As such, it's a satisfying experience. Read full review

  • 67
    The Onion A.V. Club | Noel Murray

    Girls Rock! is cutesy and quick-cut, emphasizing the absurd while trying to keep the audience's interest with animated interludes and footage from corny old industrial films. Read full review

  • 60
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Though Girls Rock! is nothing if not well meaning, it doesn't always feel like the best possible film on the subject. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    As the camera follows four campers in a Portland, Ore., rock school for girls, the result is less a journey than a collage of random thoughts, circumstances and events. There's plenty of telling, but not enough showing. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Ronnie Scheib

    Aggressively upbeat docu, helmed by two males ill-equipped to bring any distance to the camp's pervasive feel-good feminism, tends to relentlessly reiterate points better served by example. Read full review

  • 50
    Austin Chronicle | Kimberley Jones

    Counselors and campers' moms tend to tear up when they talk about the lessons these girls are learning, lessons that go way beyond how to tune a bass, but this isn't exactly a "rah-rah" film. Read full review

  • 40
    Village Voice |

    While the camp is all about liberation, the film hews to a predictable doc template and comes off as a drag. Read full review

View more reviews for Girls Rock! on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 8+ Girl-power docu has a strong positive message.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this empowering documentary, while not perfect, has a strong positive message about building young girls' confidence. The girls at the center of the action are shown trying to shed their feelings of disenfranchisement, and all of the adults who surround them -- particularly the women -- do their best to support them. There's little iffy language ("idiot" is about as strong as it gets) and no sexual content, drinking, or drug use. That said, the girls do talk frankly about their sad and/or dark feelings at times.
  • Families can talk about the campers' awkwardness and confusion. What does the camp -- and, by extension, music -- do for them? What about music allows the girls freedom of expression? Do any of them change for the better for having participated? If so, how? Can you think of other ways in which media can help kids (or people in general) feel better about themselves?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Everyone, from the female rock stars who teach or have cameos to the campers themselves, supports a girl-power mission.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence and scariness: Lots of rebel yells, but no actual fights. Head-banging music is played loudly, with some lyrics alluding to aggression. Frank discussion of sad and dark feelings.
  • sex false0 Sexy stuff: Some scenes show cut-up Britney Spears figures that are scantily clad.
  • language false0 Language: Pretty clean, though the girls do use words like "pissed" and "idiot."
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Shots of girls reading Seventeen magazine; mentions of MTV; brand names of musical instruments are clearly visible.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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